Cascade Commentary

Summary of Autumn Budget 2017 - Key Points to Note

The Chancellor of the Exchequer, Philip Hammond, presented his second Autumn Budget to Parliament on 22 November 2017. A summary of the key points to note is provided as follows.

Stamp Duty and Housing

Stamp duty land tax abolished for first time buyers from 22 November 2017 for the first £300,000 of a £500,000 purchase price meaning that 80% of first-time buyers will not pay at all and 95% of first-time buyers will benefit;

£15.3 billion new financial support for house building of 300,000 new homes per year over the next five years with total support reaching £44 billion;

Local authorities given the power to charge a 100% council tax premium on empty properties;

A task force has been established to tackle the growing problem of homelessness;

£400 million of spending to be allocated to regenerate housing estates with a further £1.1 billion allocated to unlock strategic sites for development;

A review will be conducted into why there are delays in developments being given planning permission once purchased.

Personal Taxation and Wages

National Living Wage and the National Minimum Wage to increase from April 2018;

Personal tax allowance to rise with inflation from £11,500 to £11,850;

Higher-rate tax threshold will increase to £46,350.

State of the Economy

Unemployment at its lowest rate since 1975, driven by full-time workers;

Extra £3 billion allocated to help Brexit preparations;

A reduction in the UK's growth forecast for 2017 was announced, moving from 2% to 1.5%;

Annual rate of CPI inflation forecast to fall towards the targeted 2% later this year;

UK borrowed £1 in every £16 that was spent in 2016 but country still owes more than £1.7 trillion;

Annual government borrowing will be £49.9 billion this year, some £8.4 billion lower than the March 2017 forecast, but projected borrowing has moved upwards due to weaker economic forecasts and lower expected tax yields.

Welfare and Pensions

More upfront support for householders applying for Universal Credit so that claimants can get 100% advance payments within five days of applying from January 2018;

The typical first payment will now take five weeks rather than current six weeks and repayment periods for advances to increase from six months to twelve.